Rotary valve structure



Dec. 2, 1941. 1 w. HILLS ET A1. 2,264,844

ROTARY VALVE STRUCTURE Fild oct. 25, 1959 2 sheets-sheet 1 L. W. HILLS ETAL ROTARY VALVE STRUCTURE Dec. 2, 1941.

2 SheetS-Shee'fl 2 Filed oct. 25, 1959 r. b V r` 1 l A a l Patented Dec. 2, 194i maar ROTARY VALVE STRUCTURE Leslie W. Hills, San Francisco, and Lawrence E.

Warner, Oakland, Bros. Coee, Inc.,

Calif., San Francisco, Calif., a cor- 6 Claims.

This invention relates to rotary valve structures, and more particularly to a transfer Valve structure as used in the transfer of material from a Zone of high pressure to a Zone of lower pressure as, for example, in the transfer of canned material into a vacuum sealing machine.

This invention is particularly related to the provision in such a valve structure of a pressure shoe which is provided with pressure compensating means so as to enable the use of such a rotary valve and pressure shoe without undue wear upon the operating parts thereof, and yet provide an air-tight seal at all times.'

It is an object of this invention to provide a pressure shoe for a rotary valve structure which will operate to maintain a low pressure chamber seal within the rotating valve structure, and wherein means are provided for compensating the pressure shoe so as to avoid the overheating of the pressure shoe or the operation of the struc'- ture to more than a minimum of friction between the rotating valve member and the shoe.

Another object of our invention is to provide a pressure shoe for a rotary valve wherein the pressure shoe is so constructed and mounted as to permit of initial simplicity of machining of the mating surface of the shoe with the cylindrical valve.

Another object of our invention is to provide in a rotary valve structure a pressure shoe and a means of mounting the pressure shoe so as to enable the same to be easily removed for servicing the pressure surface thereof or of the rotary valve or for cleaning or lubrication of the parts thereof.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a rotary valve a pressure shoe wherein the pressure valve shoe is so mounted with relation to the cylindrical valve member that the greater the friction between the valve shoe and the cylindrical valve member, the greater the counterbalancing force which will act to reduce the friction.

Other objects and advantages of this invention it is believed will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view diagrammatic in form of the rotary valve structure incorporating therein our invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Figure 3 is a sectional plan view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

assi gnors to Hills -Figure 4 is a fragmental sectional view taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a lragmental sectional view taken substantially on the line 5--5 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a fragmental sectional view taken substantially on the line i-li-of Figure 3.

The valve structure as herein illustrated is of the general character of that illustrated in Patent No. 2,192,441, for Valve structure, although the details of construction as therein illustrated are not in any way essential to the invention as herein disclosed which has primarily to do with the provision of the pressure shoe which operates in conjunction with the rotating valve member of such a transfer valve.

In the illustration of our invention as given, the rotating valve member l is illustrated as comprising a plurality of pockets 2, which are transfer low pressure pockets into which cans of material to be vacuumed sealed are delivered in any suitable manner to be transferred into the vacuum chamber, a portion of the shell of which is indicated at 3. This form of structure is well known in the art so its specific details are not herein particularly described or set forth.

As is common in such structures, the pockets 2 of the rotary valve member I are provided with ejecting members 4 which operate in timed relation with the rotation of the valve member l to eject the cans from the pockets 2 through the opening 4a formed in the shell 3 of the vacuum chamber. Y

The rotary valve member l is mounted upon a shaft 5 and is provided with upper and lower plates 6 and 1. The shaft 5 is rotatably journaled in bearings 8 and 9, which bearings 8 and 9 may be supported in any suitable or desirable manner, either through the medium of the pressure compensating support generally indicated at I0 from the supporting plate Il secured to the shell 3, or theshaft bearings and 9 may, as is `common in some forms of such valve, be rigidly mounted.

The plate Il as illustrated is an integral part of the valve seat I6 and carries the upper and lower closure plates 6 and l. Mounted to operate in conjunction with the rotary valve member l is a pressure shoe I2 which engages the periphery of the valve member I to forml a fluid-tight seal therewith. The shoe l2 is supported at its lower end upon the lower plate 6 and as herein illus trated, is supported so as to have freedom of movement by means of a bearing I3 (Figure 4) which is carried by a bracket it secured to the lower and upper plates and 1, respectively, by means of suitable securing means I5.

Means are provided in this type of equipment for establishing a partial vacuum within the transfer pockets 2. As herein illustrated, the rotary valve to which my invention is adapted is of the single transfer type, that is, the type which takes the contents to be vacuum sealed from the conveyer and transfers the same into the vacuum chamber of the shell 3 and in this type of equipment a second similar transfer valve would be employed for removing the vacuum sealed cans from the vacuum sealing chamber. As the construction and operation of such parts are common in the art, we believe that it is unessential to completely describe in detail their mode of operation.

In addition to the pressure shoe I2, the rotary valve member I also revolves against a seat I6 carried also by the plate II through which seat I6 the can admittance opening 4a is formed. As is customary in such structures, the seats I5 and pressure shoe I2 are each provided with means wherein the vacuum within the pockets 2 may be properly controlled. Thus the valve seat I6 is provided with vacuum control ports I1, I8, I9 and the pressure shoe I2 is provided with vacuum control ports 29 and 2I. These ports are properly connected through conduits as, for eX- ample, the conduits 22 and 23 for the control maintenance of the requisite vacuum.

The control ports I8 and 2I are exactly opposite so that the outcoming chamber 2 with a full high vacuum is connected with a partially vacuumized entering chamber. The outcoming chamber 2 is then connected through the port I1 to a xed chamber I1a connected with the port 20. This chamber I 1a makes connection through the port 25 with the next incoming and unevacuated valve chamber. Since air in unevacuated pockets is displaced into empty outgoing pockets, these ports and connections save the need for great capacity of the vacuum pump engaged in vacuumizing the main chamber into which the cans are conveyed by the rotating valves.

It will be obvious, as is well known in the art, that the valve port I9 may be connected to a lower vacuum system than the main chamber.

The method and means of maintaining the requisite vacuum in the pockets 2 is well understood, and in this case the only diierence is that the conduits 22 and 23 are formed flexible so that they do not resist or interfere with the movement of the pressure shoe I 2. The pressure shoe I2 is normally held in position by means of adjustment screws 24 carried by the bracket I4 The bracket Ill also provides a means whereby there may be interposed between the pressure shoe I2 and the said bracket an off-center toggle link member 25 which is positioned in a position so that as the pressure shoe I2 moves in a direction corresponding with the direction of movement of the member I as indicated by the arrow 26, the toggle 25 tends to raise the pressure shoe I2 away from the valve member I. As the pressure shoe I2 tends to move in the direction of the arrow 26 only when the frictional resistance between the shoe and rotary Valve member I increases, it will be obvious that by lifting the pressure shoe I2 away from the valve member I, this tendency toward increased frictional resistance to rotation of the member I is compensated for. In order to accomplish this result, the pressure shoe I2 is provided with a toggle supporting member 21 which extends out from the shoe I2 and over the bracket I4. The bracket I4 is provided with a pair of toggle link support members 28 between which a toggle link block 29 is mounted. The toggle link block 29 is also mounted between vertical walls 30 of the bracket I4 so that it is restrained from movement.

Carried by the members 28 are pivot pins 3I which are threaded to the members 28 and iit loosely within sockets 32 formed in the toggle link 25 and provide a. means of holding the toggle link 25 in position during the assembly or disassembly of the apparatus.

The opposite end of the toggle link 25 en gages within a second toggle link block 33 carried in an adjustment block 34. The adjustment block 34 is carried by the toggle link support 21 through the medium of a pair of bolts 35 which pass through slots formed in the support 21 so as to be movable with respect thereto in the direction of the plane of the drawing in Figure 3.

Interposed between the block 34 and the supporting member 21 is a wedge adjustment block 36. The bolts 35 are iitted through a corresponding adjustment plate 31. Carried by the member 34 is a screw 38 upon which there is mounted a recess adjustment nut 39, the peripheral recess 40 of which is engaged within the section 4I of the wedge member 36 so that upon rotation of the nut 39 the wedge 36 may be adjusted between the block 34 and the support 21. A similar adjustment means 42 is provided between the plate 31 and the Asupport 21 so that a corresponding movement of the plate 31 may be had to properly align the bolts 35.

The adjustments thus provided for the blocks 29 and 33 are for the purpose of enabling a change to be made in the mechanical advantage or compensation provided through the toggle link 25 by changing its acting angle and to compensate or wear in the toggle link pivots or other wearing parts as well as to allow for an adjustment on initial assembly. The toggle block 29 is mounted on a pin 29a which enables the block to rotate to equalize the pressure over the full length of the chisel point of the toggle link 25 to prevent pressure localization.

The toggle block 33 has a trunnion 33EL around which it may swivel for the purpose of preventing pressure localization of the bearing points of the toggle link 25.

The set screws 33b project into the trunnion 33a into an annular groove so as to allow the block 33 to turn and self-align. The set screws 33b act to hold the block 33 in position when assembling and on disassembling.

The toggle member 25 having knife-edge bearings 43 at its opposed ends engages within bearing grooves 44 formed in the respective toggle blocks 29 and 33. By the medium of the adjustments as herein described, it will be obvious that the. initial pressure between the pressure shoe I2 and the valve member I may be established so that a fluid-tight connection is at all times maintained. It will also be obvious that through this adjustment the amount of movement of the pressure shoe I2 requisite to cause a shifting of the same away from the member I may also be determined.

It will thus be observed that the pressure shce I2 gives the advantage of a i'ull seat, yet it is so mounted as to enable it to be quickly removed for inspection of the valve, shoe and ports for cleaning and lubrication. Through the use of such a pressure shoe a smaller rotary valve may be employed because the pressure shoe enables an extension of the prevacuumizing section of the valve seat, allowing either a longer period for prevacuumizing or else a higher speed of operation.

In order to form a fluid-tight connection between the pressure shoe l2 and the valve seat i6, a sealing means consisting of a strip l5 of suitable sealing material such as neoprene is interposed between the adjacent edges of the valve seat I6 and the pressure shoe I2. This strip of neoprene is carried by a suitable frame 56 secured to the end of the pressure shoe l2 and projects from this frame to engage the adjacent edge of the valve seat I to form a fluid-tight compressible connection between these two members. The use of this compressible material permits the pressure shoe l2 to have the requisite movement required for its compensating action as herein described.

Having fully described our invention, it is to be understood that we do not wish to be limited to the details herein set forth, but our invention is of the full scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

l. In a valve, a rotatable valve member having a chamber therein, a pressure shoe adapted to engage the rotating valve member and being in open communication with the said chamber, a support for the pressure shoe, and a link meer-- anism interposed between the support and the pressure shoe in oli center relationship in the direction of rotation of the rotatable valve memb rebv movement of the valve shoe in the direction of rotation of the rotatable valve member operates through the said link to move the valve shoe away from the rotatable valve member.

2. In a valve, a pressure shoe, a rotatable Valve member having a chamber therein, means for creating a pressure difference between the pressure shoe and the rotatable valve member in the said chamber as compared with the external pressure on the valve shoe whereby the valve shoe and rotatable valve member are urged together, means for supporting the valve shoe, said latter means including a link interposed between the valve shoe and the said support in position of oli-center relationship in the direction of rotation of the rotatable valve member, whereby movement of the Valve shoe in the directionof rotation of the valve member as occasioned by the pressure Contact between the shoe and the rotatable valve member operates through said link to raise the valve shoe away from the rotatable valve member.

3. In a valve, a rotatable valve member having a chamber therein, means for rotatably supporting the rotatable valve member, a floating pressure shoe adapted to engage the rotating valve member to close the said chamber, and a link mechanism interposed between a support and the pressure shoe, means for pivotally supporting the link mechanism in oli-center relationship in the direction of rotation of the rotatable valve member whereby movement oi the pressure shoe in the direction of rotation of the valve member operates through said link to move the pressm'e shoe away from` the rotatable Valve member.

e. In a valve, a rotatable valve member having a chamber therein, a pressure shoe adapted to engage the rotating valve member to close the said chamber, means for rotatably supporting the valve member, a link, means for pivotally supporting the link, a link block carried by the pressure shoe to engage one end of the link, a link block 'to engage the other end of the link, and means for adjusting the position of one of said link blocks so that the link is maintained in ofi-center relationship with reference to its said axis whereby movement of the pressure shoe in the direction of rotation of the rotatable valve member operates through said link to move said pressure shoe away from the rotatable valve member.

5. In a valve, a rotatable Valve member having a peripheral chamber therein, a pressure shoe adapted to engage the periphery of the rotatable valve member to close the said chamber when the rotatable valve member is rotated to move the said chamber under the pressure shoe, a stationary seat for the valve, means for supporting the pressure shoe so as to permit the same to move in the direction of rotation of the rotatable valve member, and a yielding seal interposed between the pressure shoe and the stationary valve seat.

6. In a valve, a rotatable valve member having a peripheral chamber therein, a pressure shoe adapted to engage the periphery of the rotatable valve member to close the said chamber when the rotatable valve member is rotated to move the said chamber under the pressure shoe, a stationary seat for the Valve, means for supporting the pressure shoe so` as to permit the same to move in the direction of rotation of the rotatable valve member, a yielding seal interposed between the pressure shoe and the stationary valve seat, and means operatively connected with the pressure shoe whereby movement of the pressure shoe in the direction of rotation of the rotatable valve member operates to move the pressure shoe away from the rotatable valve member.

LESLIE W. HILLS. LAWRENCE E. WARNER. 

